SO the gun West Australian rider Willie Pike has rejected the opportunity to ride at Cairns on Cup Day.
In fairness it would have been hard for him after owner Bob Peters sacked Daniel Stackhouse from the up-coming Victorian carnikval rides on the star West Australian Cosmic Crusader.
All going well, Cosmic Crusader, which won the G3 Bletchingly at Caulfield recently with Stackhouse in the saddle, will be among the favorites for the G1 Memsie Stakes on August 29, the same day as the Cairns Cup is run.
Fans of Stackhouse, who is chasing that elusive G1 win, are dirty on Peters for dumping him from Cosmic Crusader after his 10 out of 10 ride in the Bletchingly.
But it’s an owner’s prerogative to have the jockey of his choice and Pike has enjoyed some amazing success with Peters in the west. Ironically though ‘The Wizard’ has not been aboard Cosmic Crusader in any of his 18 starts.
Archie Butterfly reports on his popular site, www.peterprofit.com, that it didn’t take the Cairns Jockey Club long to find a suitable replacement following the withdrawal of Pike.
Nash Rawiller, lured north with the promise of some reef fishing during his visit, will take a weekend off from his Sydney duties.
